Local Sustainability Efforts

Much talk and action has been swirling around East Central Indiana over plans for biofuels operations both proposed and confirmed. Local citizens have been at work on various projects with a sustainability focus.

Cope Environmental Center has developed an extensive sustainability program, including an onsite operating windmill, and has hosted a series of sustainability workshops for residential and commercial property owners.

In Randolph County, a technology teacher has recently secured a grant from Indiana to fund another windmill project at the school:

Randolph Eastern School Corporation is hoping to bring Union City another step closer to becoming the “epicenter of alternative energy” in Indiana.  Last week the Indiana Office of Energy and Defense Development (OED) announced it will help fund the Randolph Eastern Energy Project, a proposal that calls for installation of a small hybrid wind and solar energy system at the school’s K-12 campus in Union City.  This project joins two other alternative energy initiatives in the Union City area – production of hybrid vehicles by Productive Concepts, Inc., and the development of an ethanol plant by Cardinal Ethanol. 

The 1,000-watt wind generator, which harnesses wind to make electricity, and a 920-watt array of photovoltaic panels, which convert sunlight into electricity, will be located near the new science and technology wing at the high school and should be up and running in time for Earth Day in April of 2007.  In addition to the power generators, a data acquisition system will be installed to monitor and log the amount of electricity being produced and environmental factors, such as wind speed, temperature, and sunlight intensity.  Students and the general public will have access to this data via an internet web site.  The total cost of the project will be nearly  $37,000,  with 50% of this coming from the OED’s Alternative Power and Energy (APE) Grant Program which provides grants to non-profits, businesses, industry, farms and government entities to support the purchase and installation of alternative energy systems.  This year the OED’s program will distribute a total of $650,000 toward Hoosier alternative energy projects. 

Many ideas about promoting sustainable alternatives in the local area are being discussed at Chris Hardie’s new project: Progressive Wayne County:

In Richmond and Wayne County, progressives are people working toward new and better ways of living together in this community - for themselves, for their families and neighborhoods, and for fellow citizens. We’re balancing the economic needs of business and industry with concern for equal opportunities, fair wages, and concern for the landbase and non-human forms of life. We’re working to attract and retain a diverse population of all ages, ethnicities, lifestyles and backgrounds. We’re embracing our differences and resolving our conflicts. We’re supporting politicians and civic leaders who can collaborate to solve short-term problems, but who aren’t afraid to pursue broad new initiatives that involve risk, sacrifice, investment, and unpopular positions in the name long-term success. We’re making decisions that consider the needs of many generations to come. We’re creating a culture of tolerance, sustainability, equity and genuine connection between the members of this community.

Chris is recently returned from the Third U.S. Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions, and has conducted a personal audit of sustainable efforts in his life. Chris recently announced that his incredible effort to provide weekly commentary on news in Richmond, the  Richmond News Review, will be updated on a less frequent basis. Chris’s efforts on this podcast were huge, and the time it was costing him on a weekly basis was more than he could sustain. Head over there and check out some of the existing issues. His reflections, interviews and general news coverage are worth the visit (And if he sees some more hits on his existing podcasts, maybe he’ll saddle up and give us some more).

This entry was posted on Monday, October 2nd, 2006 at 4:54 pm and is filed under Local Items, environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.